2014.09.04 The Guardian
St Petersburg’s oldest nude beach is under threat of closure as local authorities aim to turn the area into a “family-friendly” resort.
The Dunes, located in Sestroretsk, around 18 miles northwest of the city on the Gulf of Finland, has long been a favourite haunt for nudists.
However, a spokesman for the local district authorities said on Tuesday that plans were under way to rebrand the beach for regular use.
“We are doing everything possible to survey the area and register it as one of the city’s official city beaches,” the spokesman told the Interfax news agency. “It will become a well-equipped, secure spot. There will be no nudists. There are certain rules that have to be followed in popular public places.”
The spokesman assured nudist beach-goers that the local authorities would offer them an alternative spot.
“Of course, they’ll be offered some other place, such as by the lakes on the district’s border, where families with children don’t go.”
The Dunes, which recognised as one of the best 1,000 naked beaches in the world in 2008, has been popular with sunbathers since the 1960s. It was granted official nude-beach status in 1992.
